Electrical connector for printed cards



April 29, 1958 H. H. FRENCH ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR FOR PRINTED CARDS Filed July 8, 1955 FIG 3 v INVENTOR HARRY H. FRENCH ATTORNEY United States Patent The invention described herein may be manufactured and used 'by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment of any royalty thereon.

The present invention relates to an electrical connector. The invention is concerned primarily with the solution to the problem of joining printed circuit cards at right angles and effecting electrical connection between the conducting surfaces of said cards. use and application of printed circuitry, that is, a circuit layout printed on a plastic-like sheet, and further in view of the miniaturization of components of relatively large :size, it is necessary that new forms and designs of con nector be devised to serve such needs. has been found that in many instances components such .as thermionic tubes, resistors, and similar components :are so stacked and mounted on printed circuitry cards :that right angle mounting of such components is commonplace. The invention herein is concerned primarily with a mounting device or a connector for effecting such right angle electrical connection between such components and the circuitry with a minimum amount of space utilization and at the same time is highly efiective in making such electrical connections.

At the present time one means of making right angle integration between circuitry and components is to use an internal rack and panel connector. When using such rack and panel type connector it is necessary to have a male plug permanently affixed to the printed circuit card by means of solder. This card-plug combination is then inserted into a receptacle that is permanently attached to the other card. One of the primary objects of the present invention is to eliminate the need of the male plug in the type of connector described immediately supra and to use a double female receptacle connector as an effective means for effecting electrical connection between two insertable discrete printed circuit .cards positioned at right angles to each other.

An important feature of the invention lies in the allowance of both printed circuit cards to be directly inserted and withdrawn at will from the connector without any soldering required to maintain the cards in position.

Another feature of the invention lies in the ease with which such circuit cards can be inserted without the use of any special tools or the like to effect such integration.

Another feature of the invention liesin the utilization of the connector herein described as a means for supporting printed circuit cards if used as a combined electrical connector and card support or used as a card support alone. 7

The invention can best be understood from the following description to be read in view of the accompanying drawing in which: a

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a preferred embodiment of the connector of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in cross section of the connector of .Fig. 1;

With the increased In particular .it

"ice

Fig. 3 is a view in cross section'of a connector em bodying the principles of this invention and having, a broader use to permit connection between printed circuit cards having insulated conductive elements on both sides thereof, and

Fig. 4 is a view in cross section of another modification of the invention.

Referring-to the invention as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a connector designated generally asv 11 comprising two separate body pieces L-shaped in cross section designated as 13 and 15, wherein 13 is that portion having arms of greater length than those of portion 15 so that portion 15 can nest within and be in intimate abutment with the portion 13 as shown in Fig. 1.

The two body portions 13 and 15 are joined together by any desirable means, as by sealing them along the edge 27 by any well known method. Each of the portions 13 and 15 is provided with a recessed cutout so that when the separate portions 13 and 15 are placed into abutment such cutouts face each other and in effect form elongated multiple recesses designated 17 and 19, said recesses being perpendicular to each other to form an L-shaped slot. 7 V V Secured by any suitable means to the inner surface of the recessed cutout segment of portion 13 is an electrical conductive contact 21 clearly shown in Fig. 2 and made of a resilient material. As can be seen from Fig. 2, the contact 21 is of onepiece construction and substantially L-shaped so that it rests within the L-shaped slot formed between the two bodies 13 and 15. Each arm of the contact 21 is slightly and resiliently bowed outwardly and away from the inner wall of portion 13 as-is readily apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2. The body member 15 is similarly provided with a contact 23 of general L-shaped configuration as shown in Fig. 2 and comprises two arm portions which are secured to the sides ofthe body portion and further provided with an extended conductive portion which engages the contact portion21 for electrical connection therewith. The contact 23 is further characterized by having each of its arms slightly bowed outwardly from the sides of the inner surface of body portion 15 and also is made of a resilient material.

The connector of the type shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is such that it will permit electrical connection between printed circuit cards 22 having circuitry 31 on only one side thereof. In using the'connector described above, the printed circuit cards 22 are inserted into respective recesses 17 and 19 so that the cards assume a right angle configuration. Electrical contact between the circuitry 31 on the respective cards is eflected through the contacts 21 and 23. The cards will be rigidly held in position due to the spring action exerted by the contacts on the faces of each of the cards.

In instances where it is desired to effect electrical connection between circuit patterns etched on both sides of a printed circuit card 22 as shown at 33 in Fig. 3, spring contacts such as shown at 35 and 37 in Fig. 3 are utilized. of the device of Fig. 1 are utilized except that no electrical contact is effected between said spring contacts 35 and 37. In the modification of Fig. 3 the spring contacts 35 and 37 are discrete, substantially L-shaped contacts secured to respective inner surfaces of the bodies 13 and 15 in the manner shown in Fig. 3. It is obvious that as the printed circuit cards 33 are forced into and between the spring conductive contacts, electrical connection will be eifected between the respective circuitry on each surface of the printed circuit card.

In Fig. 4 there is shown a modification of the present invention wherein in lieu of the discrete connector con- In such adaptation the general features 7 tscts shown in embodiments of Figs. 2. and 3, an inte' grated spring contact and support are utilized and further provided with a plug for insertion to any source of power. As shown in Fig. 4, the unitary electrically conductive. contact is shown at 41. 'Such contact is Substantially ,T-shaped wherein one of the arms serves as a plug, extending through an opening in the body 13, for insertion to a source of power. The other arm, aswell as the stem portion, lies within the L-shaped slot between the body members and is characterized by being provided with respective recesses into which can be inserted the circuit cards 22'. For confining the printed circuit cards. and also for efiecting electrical contact between the cards that arm and the stemlnaving the recesses are so formed as to have resilient tine-like segmentsprovided with extending contact beads 43 which firmlyen-gage the circuit cards 22.

While therehave been described what are at present 'ponsidered to be the preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be'obvious to those skilled in the art "that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore, aimed in the appended claim to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit andscope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

A connector for afiording electrical contact between components positioned substantially at right angles to each other comprising an insulating body consisting of a pair of substantially L-shaped segments having a substantially L-shaped open ended slot therein intermediate the mating faces of said segments when said segments are nested, and a plurality of substantially L-shaped resilient spring contacts positioned in spaced relationship on opposite walls of 'said slot wherein each contact is a substantial duplicate of the contact opposite it except for reversal of the mating faces of each of said contacts and the arms of one of said contacts of each pair isshorter than the arms of the contact opposite thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,511,855 Wentz Oct. 14, 1924 2,523,354 7 Butler Sept. 26, 1950 2,701,346 Powell Feb. 1, 1955 OTHER REFERENCES Buggie: Catalog Sheet HHB 3370, January 8, 1954. Buggie: Electronic Components News, March 1954, pages 1 and 2. 

